Roy Keane has noticed a pattern forming at Manchester City following their 2-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s men struggled against the North London club at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday with players such as Rayan Cherki struggling to deal with Thomas Frank’s man-to-man system.
The defeat showed the Man City boss that there is still a lot of work to do if the Manchester club are to put together a title-winning campaign, and Roy Keane thinks they will struggle to do so.
The former Manchester United star believes City have lost a key element of their game that made them special throughout the Guardiola era, and only time will tell if they can find it again.
Roy Keane believes Man City do not win big games anymore
Tottenham have always been a bogey team for Man City; therefore, the North London club defeating Guardiola’s team would not have come as a shock to fans of the Manchester side.
Keane believes this is related to a deeper problem at the Etihad Stadium, with the Sky Sports pundit believing that City have lost the habit of winning big games.
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“But you look at last year, whatever were the goalkeepers, I think Man City have lost a habit as well, by the way, whatever you say about Spurs,” Keane said on Stick to Football.
“You don’t feel Man City are going to win big games anymore. They didn’t seem to win big games last year.”
Man City had a very poor record against the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ last season across the 10 games they played, with the Manchester club winning three, drawing two, and losing the remaining five.
Guardiola’s men failed to win any of the four games they played against their Premier League title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal during the 2024/25 campaign, which shows that Keane has a point.
These games are often crucial to deciding where the Premier League ends up, and with Man City already worried about Arsenal’s transfer business this summer, there could be a repeat of these results over the coming months.
Ian Wright doesn’t want to hear Man City excuses
In addition to Keane, Ian Wright also has doubts about Man City’s title credentials, as he did not want to hear any excuses when Jill Scott was offering them up.
“I think City just need a little bit of time. Obviously, they’ve got new signings. I think it was the youngest team that fielded since 2010 or something,” Scott said
To which Wright responded by saying: “I don’t want to hear that, Jill, I don’t wanna hear that.
Scott would follow that up with: “No, but the way that they play is like, it’s all about structure and patterns, that these players need time to like, and I know you’re saying they don’t have it, they don’t have time, but they need it.”
There is a lot of work to do at City, and Guardiola will be happier once the transfer window is shut and he knows what players he has to work with throughout the 2025/26 season.